embRACE LA 2019
Results from Community Survey and Council Dinners
Advancement Project California
Overview
- Between September 10th and November 26th, 2019, embRACE LA
- collected 542 online surveys from Angelinos who either live, work, or study in the city(i);
- held 11 conversations with city council members; and
- collected 112 pre-conversation and 80 post-conversation surveys from dinner participants.
- collected 542 online surveys from Angelinos who either live, work, or study in the city(i);
- The following reviews the results from the surveys and dinner conversations. Key takeaways include
- Angelinos who participated in embRACE LA (either through the community survey or dinner conversations) generally do not believe LA City is an equitable and inclusive place to live.
- People who participated in council dinners described an equitable and inclusive city as a place with equal access to opportunities, cohesive and engage communities, and opportunities for youth.
- Housing is viewed as a major barrier to creating greater equity as is racism and discrimination.
- Based on council dinners, inequities in access to opportunities–including housing, education, and the economy–as well as inequities in government, like discriminatory policies in housing and policing and representation of people of color, are barriers keeping LA from getting to a vision of equity.
- Many Angelinos who participated in embRACE LA do no trust the city to treat people equally or provide equal city services or opportunities to participate in city decision-making.
- The overwhelming majority believe creating greater equity should be a HIGH priority for City government and the great majority of embRACE dinner participants support an ORE.
- Angelinos who participated in embRACE LA prioritize activities for the ORE that involve tangible investments in community, like applying equitable budgeting tools to invest dollars based on need, investing in local minority-owned businesses, providing grants to local organizations working on equity, and hiring diverse city staff from local communities.
- People who participated in the dinners also prioritized more structure and policy building roles for the ORE like assessing current and new city policies based on their racial equity impact, building opportunities and knowledge for community engagement in the city and ORE, tracking and reporting data on racial equity indicators to the public and city council.
- In developing and implementing the ORE, dinner participants emphasized considering political will to follow through on commitments to the ORE, ensuring accountability of the ORE to the community and generally it’s action plans, building out the power and authority of the ORE to impact city policy and decision, and considering who will staff the office to make sure it has the right leaders.
(i)Note: A total of 567 community surveys were gathered on the website, but only 542 of these were from individuals who reported either living, working, or studying in LA City. This analysis does not include the 25 individuals without a connection to LA City. When interpreting these findings, do keep in mind that they represent the subset of Angelinos who decided to be involved in embRACE either through the survey or through the dinners. People who completed our community survey are more likely to identify as women, Black or African American, or ages 25-44 compared to the LA City population. Additional, many respondents came from council districts in South LA and Northeast LA
Vision for an equitable LA City
- During conversations, dinner participants imagined an equitable and inclusive LA City as a place with
- Access to Opportunities: They envisioned a city with more access to tangible resources and opportunities. Across several dinners, they emphasized a vision of a city with communities having equal access to housing, income and wealth, economic opportunity (like racial equity in business and employment), and education.
- Cohesive and engaged communities:They also described an equitable and inclusive city as a place with engaged and cohesive communities. They talked about communities being unified across racial lines and residents knowing and caring for each other. In a handful of dinners, they also described communities being more engaged civically and aware of issues and their rights.
- Opportunities for youth: In a few dinners, participants described a city with more opportunities for youth, including additional supports, programming, education, and opportunities for youth empowerment and leadership.
- Access to Opportunities: They envisioned a city with more access to tangible resources and opportunities. Across several dinners, they emphasized a vision of a city with communities having equal access to housing, income and wealth, economic opportunity (like racial equity in business and employment), and education.
How equitable is LA City?
Only 1 in 4 (22%) of Angelinos who took the survey agreed or strongly agreed that LA City is an equitable and inclusive place to live for people of all races and ethnicities.
Only 1 in 4 (26%) of people attending our dinners agreed or strongly agreed with the same statement.
Housing affordability, gentrification and displacement, and racism and discrimination are viewed as some of the top barriers to creating a more equitable LA by Angelinos who took the community survey. In fact, over 50% of respondents thought housing affordability was one of the top 3 barriers to greater equity in LA City.
Dinner participants most often believed housing affordability, income, and racism and discrimination were among the top 3 barriers to creating a more equitable LA.
Over 50% of both community respondents and dinner participants thought housing affordability was one of the top 3 barriers to greater equity in LA.
30% or more of both community respondents and dinner participants thought racism and discrimination were one of the top 3 barriers to greater equity in LA.
In dinner conversations, participants expanded on these major trends
- Inequity in access to opportunities: Across nearly all dinners, dinner participants described inequities in and lack of access to opportunities as primary barriers to getting to a vision of an equitable and inclusive city. They emphasized housing most strongly, including the role of displacement, gentrification, housing affordability, and homelessness. They also lifted up inequities in education (such as quality of education and resources) and in the economy and bussiness (employment, income), which sometimes tied to ability to live in the city.
- Inequity in government and government policies: In several dinners, dinner participants lifted up past and current government policies as well as representation of people of color in government as challenges to getting to equity in Los Angeles. In many dinners, participants explicitly called out racism or government policies, like redlining and frisking, as barriers. In a handful of dinners, participants touched on barriers to community engagement and the need for more community engagement and representation of people of color in leadership or government bodies.
- Inequity in access to opportunities: Across nearly all dinners, dinner participants described inequities in and lack of access to opportunities as primary barriers to getting to a vision of an equitable and inclusive city. They emphasized housing most strongly, including the role of displacement, gentrification, housing affordability, and homelessness. They also lifted up inequities in education (such as quality of education and resources) and in the economy and bussiness (employment, income), which sometimes tied to ability to live in the city.
About 3 in 4 of community respondents had little or no trust in the city to provide equal city services (77%) or equal opportunities to participate in decision-making for all people (74%).
Dinner participants were slightly more trusting of the city though more than 1 in 2 reported little or no trust in the city to provide people of all races and ethnicities equal city services (69%), equal opportunities to participate in city decision-making (60%), or generally equal treatment (55%).
Is LA City equitable
What community members said
What dinner participants said
Top barriers to equity
What community members said
| Count | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Housing affordability | 310 | 57 |
| Gentrification and displacement | 201 | 37 |
| Racism and discrimination | 184 | 34 |
| Public participation | 29 | 5 |
| Environmental justice | 29 | 5 |
| Public safety | 28 | 5 |
| Food security | 22 | 4 |
| City services | 14 | 3 |
What dinner participants said
| Count | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Housing affordability | 58 | 52 |
| Income | 35 | 31 |
| Racism and discrimination | 34 | 30 |
| Food security | 6 | 5 |
| Infrastructure | 5 | 4 |
| City services | 3 | 3 |
Trust in City government
What community members said
What dinner participants said
How much to prioritize equity and the ORE?
Over 4 out of 5 survey respondents (84%) and dinner participants (84%) believed creating greater equity and inclusivity in our city should be a HIGH priority for LA City government and officials.
Over 4 in 5 people attending our dinners (85%) supported or strongly supported created an Office of Racial Equity in LA City.
How much to prioritize equity
What community members said
What dinner participants said
Degree of support for an ORE
What dinner participants said
What should an ORE do?
Angelinos who took the community survey most often believed that to work toward greater equity in LA, the city should invest dollars based on community need (69%), invest in local minority-owned businesses (64%), and make grants to local organizations that are addressing racial equity (60%).
When asked to prioritize what the city should do first with an Office of Racial Equity, dinner participants most often prioritized applying equitable budgeting tools to make city investments based on need (19%).
Investments in local minority-owned business (76%), application of equitable budgeting tools (75%), hiring of diverse city staff from local communities (69%), and grants to local community organizations (68%) are potential ORE activities that dinner participants most often believed would have a HIGH impact on racial equity (based on their post-surveys).
In their conversations, dinner participants lifted up other systems and structure roles for the ORE and city like
- Assessing current and new policies based on racial equity impact: Across almost all of the dinners, dinner participants most strongly voiced that the city and an Office of Racial Equity could analyze city policies and decisions based on their racial equity impact and make recommendations to city council and other city departments. Participants called out the ORE making recommendations about housing development, economic development, and policing.
- Building opportunities and knowledge for community engagement: In several dinners, participants talked about the city and ORE creating more spaces for community engagement, including acting as a liaison to the city or focusing on connecting those most impacted by inequities. They mentioned the ORE could improve community engagement through community education, popular education, or other methods. In dinners in South LA, participants also talked about the ORE providing spaces for youth leaders and engagement, like a youth leadership pipeline.
- Tracking and reporting on racial equity indicators and data: In several dinners, dinner participants lifted up a role of the ORE to to track and report on equity indicators, including sharing data or report cards with both the City and general public. Some dinner participants called out key topics to measure, like early life indicators for youth or criminal justice-related indicators. They also thought the ORE could measure progress to and impact on racial equity.
- Assessing current and new policies based on racial equity impact: Across almost all of the dinners, dinner participants most strongly voiced that the city and an Office of Racial Equity could analyze city policies and decisions based on their racial equity impact and make recommendations to city council and other city departments. Participants called out the ORE making recommendations about housing development, economic development, and policing.
Other themes during dinner conversations related to ORE functions included
- Equitable investment in POC businesses: In some dinners, participants talked about the City and ORE potentially helping to generate equitable investment in people of color-led businesses and generally communities of color.
- Creating opportunities for a diverse workforce: Participants emphasized how the ORE could hire from local communities (CD 4, CD 9, CD 10, CD 13), including hiring people of color, providing general workforce opportunities, and creating a youth leadership pipeline.
- Equitable investment in POC businesses: In some dinners, participants talked about the City and ORE potentially helping to generate equitable investment in people of color-led businesses and generally communities of color.
What should LA City do
What community members said
| Count | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| City investments and dollars distributed based on community need | 371 | 69% |
| Investments in local minority-owned businesses | 343 | 64% |
| Grants to local community organizations that are addressing racial equity | 325 | 60% |
| Conversations between City staff and community members about community needs | 296 | 55% |
| Collecting and analyzing data on racial equity and sharing it with the public | 291 | 54% |
| Opportunities and spaces for communities to come together on their own and solve issues | 250 | 46% |
| Guided conversations between community members about race and racism | 238 | 44% |
ORE’s first step
What dinner participants said
| Activity | Count | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Application of equitable budgeting tools to make city investments based on need | 15 | 19% |
| Hiring diverse city staff from local communities | 9 | 11% |
| Investments in local minority-owned businesses | 9 | 11% |
| Grants to local community organizations that are addressing racial equity | 3 | 4% |
| Trainings for city staff on implicit bias, race, and racism | 2 | 2% |
Activities based on highest impact
What dinner participants said
| Activity | Count | Percent High Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Investments in local minority-owned businesses. | 61 | 76% |
| Application of equitable budgeting tools to make city investments based on community need. | 59 | 75% |
| Hiring diverse city staff from local communities. | 55 | 69% |
| Grants to local community organizations that are addressing racial equity. | 54 | 68% |
| Application of a Racial Equity Impact analysis for city officials to use when making policy decisions. | 50 | 62% |
| Collecting and analyzing data on racial equity and sharing it with the public. | 50 | 62% |
| Trainings for city staff on implicit bias, race and racism. | 49 | 61% |
| Trainings for community residents on how to participate in city government. | 49 | 61% |
| Setting racial equity action plans that outline vision, strategies, and actions for the office and city departments. | 47 | 59% |
| Guided conversations between community members about race and racism. | 47 | 59% |
| Establishment of a community oversight commission for the Office of Racial Equity. | 44 | 55% |
| Implementation of civic engagement standards to improve public participation in city decision-making. | 44 | 55% |
Special considerations
- During dinners, partners and community members brought up key considerations and concerns in developing and implementing an ORE in the city. Their key points and takeaways included
- Ensure political will: In talking about concerns for an ORE, participants across nearly all dinners described being concerned about general support and politicall will from leaders as well as the degree to which the city would follow through on it’s commitments.
- Ensure accountability: In talking about what the ORE should do, participants emphasized the importance of including accountability mechanisms in the design of the ORE. In some dinners, they mentioned having an ORE commission or more generally, making sure the ORE is accessible to community members and held accountable to impacted communities.
- Ensure power and authority: Dinner participants elevated the importance of making sure the ORE has enough power and authority to influence city council and other departments and generally follow through on it’s plans.
- Staffing of the office: To moderate concerns about the ORE, participants in a few dinners emphasized the importance of who leads the office–suggesting it needs dedicated leaders and should include people of color.
- Ensure political will: In talking about concerns for an ORE, participants across nearly all dinners described being concerned about general support and politicall will from leaders as well as the degree to which the city would follow through on it’s commitments.
Demographics
Map of Survey Respondents
Respondents who live in LA
Zip codes of respondents who indicated they live in LA. Size of dot represents number of individuals who responded at that zip code
Respondents who work in LA
Race and ethnicity
Community survey respondents
Dinner participants
Length of tenure in LA
Community survey respondents
Dinner participants
Gender
Community survey respondents
Dinner participants
Age
Community survey respondents
Dinner participants
Civic engagement activities
Community survey respondents
| Response | Count | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Voted in an election | 388 | 72% |
| Signed a petition in-person or online | 372 | 69% |
| Volunteered in my community | 347 | 64% |
Dinner participants
| Activity | Count | Percent (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteered in my community | 92 | 82% |
| Attended a community meeting | 92 | 82% |
| Attended a public meeting | 87 | 78% |
| Met with a government representative | 74 | 66% |
| Voted in an election | 74 | 66% |